


The Other You

by sisalt



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Inspired by Miraculous Ladybug, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Simon Snow, Pining Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch, Secret Identity, Slow Burn, Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch Is Gay for Simon Snow, also kind of not mutual though, except he's Simon Salisbury, they're just idiots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21786169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sisalt/pseuds/sisalt
Summary: If someone were to ask me to describe Snow, the few words that would come to mind would be stupid, idiotic, headstrong, stubborn, and quite possibly the worst chosen one to ever be chosen. This is why I’m not surprised when I’m woken at three thirty in the morning to the sensation of the metal around my neck burning my skin, a telltale sign that Snow is doing something stupid again.-In other words, Baz is in love with Simon, Snow is in love with Ember, and they're both idiots. Chaos ensues.ON HOLD. May or may not come back to this. I've lost inspiration for the time being.
Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Comments: 4
Kudos: 60





	1. Is there somewhere you can meet me?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!! This is my first fanfic on here and the first one I've shared publicly in a while! Please be nice to me! And I hope you enjoy! uwuwu
> 
> (Chapter title is from Is There Somewhere by Halsey)

**BAZ**

If someone were to ask me to describe Snow, the few words that would come to mind would be stupid, idiotic, headstrong, stubborn, and quite possibly the worst chosen one to ever be chosen. This is why I’m not surprised when I’m woken at three thirty in the morning to the sensation of the metal around my neck burning my skin, a telltale sign that Snow is doing something stupid again.

I quickly transform by calling upon my pendant. I check my door, making sure it's locked and then I’m out the window, soaring across the rooftops of London as I follow the scent of his magic. This is a pretty normal occurrence. Snow gets himself into trouble (usually at ungodly hours, the wanker) and I’m woken to go save his arse. This time, Snow seems to have gotten himself in a brawl with an angry chimera in the middle of the streets of London. Thankfully most civilians are asleep in their homes still. The few that were on the streets have hidden themselves on the sidelines.

“Ember!” Snow shouts, clearly out of breath trying to hold off the snapping jaws above him with his sword. How he gets himself into these situations, I have no bloody idea. It’s only been getting worse, happening almost every night. This is definitely messing with my sleep schedule.

I bring my hand up and throw my fire at the creature, careful not to hit Snow. At least, not directly. He could do with a first degree burn or two as punishment for waking me up so late (early?).

“Perfect timing.” He smirks, brushing himself off. The git has the audacity to wink at me.

“Wish I could say the same for you.” I sneer. “Let’s just get this over with so I can go back to sleep.”

I swear his eyes flash with guilt but when I look again it’s gone. “Aw, did I interrupt your beauty sleep, princess?”

This guy is insufferable. I don’t respond, just continue walking towards where the chimera is starting to regain its awareness. I don’t want to kill it, but the Mage will just send it again if we leave it to live. It probably won’t stop the Mage from sending other creatures but so far we’ve only had encounters with the same creature once or twice.

It’s weak. I can tell Snow managed some good hits in before I showed up.

It starts charging for me but I throw up a wall of fire just in time. I push the wall out so that it encircles the chimera, effectively trapping it so Snow can make his move. The chimera is down in seconds.

We make a pretty good team, Snow and I. I would never admit that to him though. 

**SIMON**

“Hell yeah! That was awesome!” I yell pumping my fist in the air. He just rolls his eyes at me and looks back at the chimera. With a clench of his fist, he closes the fire around the chimera’s body. This is something we usually do, to get rid of the body of the creatures. No one wants to see a giant dead creature in the middle of the streets of London.

I know Ember doesn’t like burning them, but he understands the necessity.

“You should get home. You’ve been out here a while, you’ll detransform soon.”

We don’t know each others’ identities. Ember wants to keep it that way, says it’s dangerous. I don’t understand why he thinks it’s dangerous. I think it would be smarter to know each others’ identities. Then we could have the advantage over The Mage. We would know where each other were and we could make plans together instead of having to wait until one of us was in trouble. Not only that but I’m just curious. I wanna know who he is. I want to know the boy behind the mask. Of course, I’ve told him all this. Multiple times. We used to fight over it all the time when we first got into this gig. I kept pushing him and asking him about his identity or to stay with me while he detransformed instead of running back off into the night. But a couple months ago, we had our biggest fight yet. I thought he would never talk to me again. After that, I stopped bugging him about it. I stopped questioning him and asking him to stay.

I couldn’t bear to lose him like that again.

I think I'm in love with him. He doesn’t feel the same, obviously. I didn’t even know about my own feelings until earlier this year if I’m being honest. I hadn’t even known I liked blokes. I still don’t know if I do. I don’t think I’m gay, but I like Ember more than I probably should. Feelings are dangerous in this superhero world, even I know that. I’m not planning on acting on them.

They’re hopeless anyway. Ember likes another bloke. He talks about him sometimes, when he thinks I’m not actually paying attention. It’d be kind of sweet if I weren’t so jealous.

“You sure you’re okay here?”

“I think I’m capable of cleaning up your mess, Snow. Been doing it for the past two years.” He deadpans.

My ring vibrates against my finger, its way of letting me know that I’m going to transform back soon. “Okay.”

I make my way back to my house, slipping back through the window quietly just as I detransform.

-

The next day, I am incredibly dead on my feet. I drag myself out of bed and manage to throw on something slightly presentable before starting the long walk to school. When I get there, Baz is already sitting in his seat, looking even more dead than I feel, and somehow managing to pull it off. He always looks good, the prick.

**BAZ**

Simon plops himself down next to me in his grey trackies and red hoodie, looking like he just got run over by a truck. Maybe he had, I wouldn't be surprised.

“You ready?” We never usually talk, especially in our morning classes, when we're both still tired. We have all of the same classes except for the last one. It's a blessing and a curse. Today I just feel like riling him up.

“For what?” He groans, laying is head on the desk.

“The exam.” I smirk. He shoots up, suddenly more awake. I’m just toying with him, the test is actually tomorrow but the look on his face is priceless. I wish I had a camera.

“Exam?! Baz, oh my god. I didn’t study. I’m gonna fail. I’m gonna fail. I’m gonna fail.” He looks like he’s on the verge of a mental breakdown now.

“Jeez, Salisbury. Calm down, I was just kidding. The exam is tomorrow.” That earns me a hard hit across the head. I shake it off.

“You prick! I just about had a heart attack. Don’t do that to me-- wait- tomorrow?”

I nod, taking out my notebook as the teacher enters the room and gets ready to start the lecture. He’s so thick, but somehow it only makes him more endearing. Or maybe I’m just a fool.

He sighs dramatically, running both his hands through his bronze curls. “I don’t know _any_ of the material. I’m seriously going to fail.”

“I could teach you.”

I have no bloody idea why I say it but as soon as it’s out of my mouth I want to hit myself. Stupid Baz, stupid. He’s supposed to be your enemy. This _not-sleeping_ thing is really messing with my brain.

He squints his eyes, leans forward and looks at me scrutinizingly. “What game are you playing?”

“I wasn’t, but if you’re going to be a twat then I’ll take my offer back.” I sneer.

He doesn’t answer me after that, just turns to the front of the classroom and leans back in his chair, eyebrows furrowed as if he’s thinking. The lecture is boring and mostly on stuff I’ve already learned so I don’t need to take many notes. Every once in a while I’ll sneak a glance at Simon. By now he’s not really concentrating on the lesson, more just looking down at his half blank paper and twiddling with his pencil. No wonder he doesn’t pick up the material. I watch his hands, the way his freckled fingers lazily spin his pencil around and back again. He seems tired. It’s not unusual, but only recently has he been coming to class _this_ worn out. I wonder what he even gets up to. I force my eyes away to focus back on the professor.

By the end of class, I’m just about half-asleep. I shake myself and start packing my things. Usually Simon would have been packed and out the door the second the professor stopped talking but he’s being slower than usual. Stood up behind his place at our table and placing his notebook and pencil away agonizingly slow.

“So,” he starts.

I stare, waiting for him to finish. “Yes, Salisbury?”

“I’ll take your offer.”

“Sorry?” I gape.

“If it-- if it still stands I mean.” He looks down and fidgets with his fingers. Those damned freckled fingers.

I know I should take this as my chance to tell him no, the offer does not still stand, and then I can carry on my merry way. But no. That’s not what comes out of my mouth. “Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes I’ll teach you the material.” God I hate myself right now.

He looks relieved for a moment before gathering himself again. “Okay so uh. Can I come over to yours after classes?”

“No. Yours.” My father will not take kindly to having Simon Salisbury in our house. I really don’t want to have to deal with him.

“Oh. Okay, sure. I usually walk home so you could just walk with me when classes let out?”

“Sure.” I nod.

“Great!” He laughs a little nervously before picking up his stuff and speed walking away.

I swing my bag over my shoulder thinking about how weird that interaction had been when it hits me.

I’m going to Simon Salisbury’s house. Me and Simon. Alone. Bloody hell.

**SIMON**

I have no idea why the hell I did that. I really did not have to accept his offer. I don’t even know why he offered in the first place. He could be plotting some scheme to murder me. And he’s coming to my house. _My house_. I’m going to be _murdered_ by Baz Pitch in my very own house. I could very well have just asked Penny to teach me the material. But no, my arse had to go and accept Baz bloody Pitch’s offer to tutor me. I’ve gone mad.

“Baz is coming to my house after classes today.” I blurt out as soon as I sit down across from Penny at our regular lunch table.

“I’m sorry, what?” She puts down the tea she was holding, suddenly more alert.

“Baz. He offered to teach me chemistry because we have a test tomorrow that I didn’t even know about. He’s plotting something and I know it.”

“Why did you even accept his offer to begin with?”

“I don’t know, Penny! I seriously don’t know.” I run my hands through my hair, still trying to process the situation.

“Why would he offer to tutor you? That doesn’t even make sense. You guys hate each other.”

“I’m just as confused as you, Pen. Actually I think I’m even more confused.” I don’t know what to do. I could always just call it off. But then I might fail the chem exam. Or I could ask Penny to teach me. She’s good at chemistry. Actually, she’s good at everything. Second in our class, behind Baz. “Maybe you could teach me? And then I can call this whole thing off with Baz before it’s too late.”

“Simon, I love you. And any other night I would. But Micah’s visiting from America and we have a date tonight.” She reaches over and puts her hand over mine.

I sigh. I remember her telling me this. That her boyfriend would be in town this week. This is so stupid. “It’s okay, Pen.”

“I think you should just do this thing with Baz. I mean, how bad could it be? He just offered to tutor you. What could he possibly do? He probably just wants to help.”

“Baz never wants to help.” I mutter to myself. Penny leans back and frowns. I think she heard me. I know she hates when I talk about Baz with her too much. I raise my eyebrows at her in a challenge but she just stares me down. God, she’s terrifying.

“Ugh! Fine! I’ll just do the bloody study session with Baz.”

“Good. Maybe this will be good for both of you.”

“Pfft. Yeah, maybe good for him. He has to be plotting something. Maybe this is his way to finally get rid of me once and for all.” Penny just rolls her eyes. She goes back to drinking her tea and I know this conversation is over. Now I just have to get through the day, and hopefully survive tonight.

-

Baz is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairwell after my last class. He’s leaning on the railing, lazily scrolling through his phone, black hair falling in waves on the sides of his face. He doesn’t say anything when I walk up to him, just pockets his phone and starts walking. Strangely, he’s walking in the right direction. I wonder how he knows which way I live but then again there’s only two directions he could have turned. Maybe it was just a lucky guess.

I have to walk slightly faster to keep up with him. Baz and his damn long legs. He’s wearing slacks and I button-up too, a navy blue scarf wrapped lazily around his neck. What a prat. He probably just dresses like that to show off that he has money.

The walk to my house is slightly awkward. Actually scratch that. It’s very awkward. We haven’t said a word this entire time. Baz looks tense and it’s a little frightening. I feel like if I speak he’ll snap and if I touch him he’ll definitely kill me so I keep a good amount of distance between us on the sidewalk. At some point he puts himself half a pace behind me. It really doesn’t help that it’s a thirty minute walk to my house. Thirty minutes of silence, walking two feet apart, with enough tension in the air to split diamonds. As I said, it’s well awkward.

Usually I would put in my headphones and listen to music, but curse myself for having too good of manners. It’d be rude to listen to music with Baz walking next to me. He doesn’t deserve my politeness. Honestly, he probably wouldn’t care. But I still can’t bring myself to do it. Maybe, deep down, I’m also hoping that he’ll say something eventually and break the uncomfortable silence and I don’t want to miss it.

This doesn’t happen. In fact, we get to my house, and he still hasn’t said a word. I fumble around for my keys and shove them in the door handle, unlocking it with a satisfying click. I push the door open and kick off my shoes, wordlessly walking up the narrow stairway to my room, figuring Baz will follow.

He does, and when he gets to my room he slides his bag off his shoulder and sets it slowly down on the floor, looking around my room. Thank god that I actually managed to clean it recently. Davy was getting annoyed with me with all the clutter in my room. He’s not home now. He usually doesn’t come home till late.

Baz’s eyes land on a small space of wall next to my bed and I freeze. Oh, _fuck_. I forgot about those.

**BAZ**

Simon’s room is surprisingly clean. I would’ve thought he’d live in a pig sty.

I look around. Can’t really help myself. But I really wish I hadn’t. On a little space of wall next to his bed, he has dozens upon dozens of pictures of me. Well not _me_. The other me. Ember. I can’t help it when I feel the blood rush to my cheeks. I turn my face slightly so Simon can’t see but I keep my eyes trained on the pictures. “You a fan, Salisbury?”

“No!” He blurts. “I mean yes. I mean, no. I mean- kinda?”

I scoff. “Doesn’t seem like ‘kinda’ to me. You have a whole bloody collection.”

“Okay. Yeah. So what? What’s the big deal?”

“I would’ve thought you more of a Snow fan.” Actually, I can’t really see him being any type of fan, but the majority of superhero fans are Snow fans. Actually, come to think of it, I’ve never even met an Ember fan.

“Nah, he’s overrated.” He shrugs, throwing his bag down and plopping down on the edge of his bed.

“I mean, he _is_ the main guy. Isn’t Ember just a sidekick? I can’t see why you’d like him.” That’s what everyone says anyway. Ember is Snow’s sidekick. Little do they know I do most of the work. Snow just finishes the job and gets all the credit.

Simon looks offended when I say this though. “He’s not just a sidekick. Him and Snow are partners. They’re a team.”

When he says that my heart speeds up. It’s nice to hear someone say that. It’s not as if Snow thinks that way. He enjoys the glory. Revels in it. He loves his fans and barely gives a second glance to me, to Ember. But at least Simon thinks so.

“I guess.” I force my eyes away from the photos on the wall and start pulling out my notes from my bag. Simon follows suit and starts to take his notebook and pencil out. He pulls his legs up on his bed, sitting criss-cross. I don’t know if he wants me sitting on his bed so I just sit on the floor and lean against it. Without any more prompting, I start to ask him questions about what he knows and what he doesn’t know. Of course when he doesn’t know something, I’ll tease him about it. Have to keep up our relationship status and all that.

I wonder what our relationship would be like if he knew I was Ember. Maybe I’d actually have a chance with him. He seems to like Ember well enough anyway. Not Baz though. He hates Baz. Maybe if he knew I was Ember that’d change.

It can never happen. He can never know who I am. It’s too dangerous and I never want to put Simon in danger, but a man can dream can’t he?


	2. I've never heard silence quite this loud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for your kudos and comments on the last chapter!! I'm so happy you guys like it so far! (๑>ᴗ<๑)
> 
> (Chapter title from The Story of Us by Taylor Swift)

**SIMON**

When I wake up, I feel more rested than I have in days. Of course, not a completely peaceful sleep. I’ll never be rid of the nightmares. But at least I _got_ sleep. The Mage finally decided to take a break I guess. When I woke up yesterday, I was stressing about the exam, and when that was over, I was stressing about the Mage and the humdrum. Funny enough, neither of them actually made a show (The Mage never shows, but he shows himself in his ways of constantly throwing things at us). It feels odd that nothing happened yesterday or even the day before. The past week has been hell, he’s sent something almost every night. But we’ve had two days of radio silence and it’s starting to scare me.

I roll out of bed and yawn, starting to put on my clothes for the day. I go through my morning routine, which really isn’t much. Just brush my teeth, put my contacts in, and make sure my hair is somewhat presentable.

When I get downstairs, Davy is at the kitchen table, drinking his tea and typing away on a laptop. This is odd because he usually leaves the house early to get to the academy. He is the headmaster after all. I decide not to comment on it. He and I don’t really talk much unless we have to. There’s not much to eat in the fridge and frankly not much in the cabinets either so I end up just grabbing an apple from the counter.

“I don’t want you to go to school today.” Davy speaks up, not looking up from his computer.

“What? Why?”

“I just don’t think you should. Why don’t you just stay home today? You can study on your own here. It’s Friday anyway.”

“Why would I stay home? That’s stupid. I’m going to school, I can’t miss class,” I argue. I have no idea where this even came from. _Skip school today?_

“I’ll excuse you from all your classes, Simon. Don’t worry about that.” He puts his mug down and looks me dead in the eyes. He’s angry with me.

“That’s not the point. I just don’t understand why you want me to miss school. You _never_ want me to miss school. And I _want_ to go to school. I want to see my friends.”

“That Pitch boy?” He says Baz’s name as if it burns him. He caught Baz leaving the other day. He didn’t show it outwardly at the time, maintaining a short and civil conversation as I was showing him out the door, but I could tell he was angry. “I don’t want you to see that boy anymore. He’s no good.” 

I want to argue with him but I don’t know what the point is. “You don’t have to worry about him, Sir. He was just helping me study. It was a one time thing.” _Not to mention he hates my guts_ . _He spent the whole time insulting you._ Funny enough, he didn’t actually end up killing me. At least, not physically.

“Good.” He picks his mug back up and over the rim of it, he looks at me, one eyebrow raised. A challenge. “You’re still not going to school today. End of discussion.”

I know when he says that, he really does mean end of discussion. I’m not going to get anywhere arguing with him. I hate that he can do that. I hate that he controls my life every goddamn day. I can’t help it, I punch the counter in frustration and stomp my way up to my room, fuming.

**BAZ**

Simon hasn’t been in any of our classes today and I’m starting to get a little worried. Simon never misses school, his father would kill him. Even one time when he was sick with a fever and everything, he still sent Simon to school. So I can’t fathom why Simon wouldn’t be at school today.

As much as I pretend I hate him, I don’t really. I keep thinking maybe he’ll show up in the next class, but he never does.

I’m still waiting for him to show up when lunch rolls around. He’s been on my mind all day and I can’t help it.

I’m just about to chime in to Dev and Niall’s conversation at an attempt of a distraction from my thoughts when it happens.

The first thing I hear is screaming from outside and I _know_ it can’t be good. Everyone around the cafeteria is starting to panic. Half of the kids try to push their way to see what’s going on outside but rest stay back, trying to figure out if they should run or hide.

I bolt up, leaving my untouched tray of food behind and run towards the nearest staircase. Luckily there’s an underside to the staircase where I can quickly duck behind and transform. The doorways and windows on the first floor are blocked by students so I run up the stairs to the second floor. Thankfully, there’s not many people up here, since it’s lunch and everyone usually just sits in the cafeteria. I melt the lock off one of the windows and jump out onto the street. I look around, trying to get a feel for the situation.

The first thing I notice is the giant hurricane forming in the sky. People are running every which way from who knows what. I try to track what everyone is running from but it’s all so chaotic it’s hard to tell.

But then there’s a crashing sound and a flash of light. _Lightning?_

I have to find the source. I start running through the streets trying to pinpoint what everyone is running from. I don’t have to go far before I see it.

 _The Humdrum._ It’s surrounded by this force field of lightning, floating twenty feet in the air, striking civilians down with each crash. This doesn’t seem right. The Humdrum never usually attacks so many civilians like this.

When I run closer, I realize it’s holding someone. Bronze curls, tawny golden skin.

My heart drops into my stomach. _Simon_.

The Humdrum has Simon. I’m going to be ill.

I don’t give myself time to think about it, I just pull back an arrow of fire and I shoot. The first one misses, but my second one hits its target. It catches the back of the Humdrum’s cloak and sends it flailing. It lets go of Simon and then he’s falling.

I leg it across the field, landing myself right under the electric force field to catch Simon. And then he’s in my arms and I’m sprinting into the trees. He’s warm. Both his arms are wrapped around my neck, and his face is tucked into my shoulder. If I wasn’t so terrified of what the Humdrum is doing, I might have the brain capacity to revel in it more, but it doesn’t stop the heat rising to my cheeks and my neck. He can probably feel it, with both his hands resting there, but if he does, he doesn’t say anything.

As soon as we’re on the far outskirts of the park, hidden under the trees, I set him down. It probably wasn’t necessary to carry him the whole way, he could’ve kept up, and he doesn’t seem to be injured. But he wasn’t complaining.

He looks at me with his normal blue eyes, that are somehow so very stunning, and my breath catches. Damn him.

“Th- thank you.” He says. “Thank you, Ember.” He smiles when he says my name. It’s funny that now I know why. I wonder if I should give him an autograph later. Is that something people do when they have fans? It’s what Snow does.

It’s funny, I haven’t even thought about Snow since the Humdrum showed up but it’s odd how he’s not here yet. Usually he doesn’t take this long to show up.

I nod to Simon. “Stay here until the Humdrum is gone, okay?”

He nods and goes to sit on a bench as if to prove it. I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding. Satisfied, I turn and run back to the center of the park. I doesn’t take very long, especially without the added weight in my arms. But when I get back to the clearing, it’s empty. The sky is clear now. There’s no sign of the Humdrum anywhere. It’s just _gone._

Did I imagine it? No, I couldn’t have.

I walk out further, to where the Humdrum was hovering with its forcefield. I wasn’t even gone that long, maybe five minutes maximum. How could it have just vanished? The only civilians around are either severely injured by the lightning blasts or worse, dead. The Humdrum attacks civilians occasionally, but _never_ has it _killed_ . Suddenly I feel sick. I can’t believe I let people die. I should’ve gotten there sooner. I should’ve defeated the Humdrum once and for all instead of making sure Simon was safe. _No_. 

Snow shows up just as the first ambulances are arriving, flying down from above the trees, his red wings spread wide and tail flailing about. We still don’t know why he has them. They just appeared one day in battle and now they’re just there whenever he transforms. The tail is just completely unnecessary though.

“What happened here?”

“I wish I could tell you Snow.”

“Well where’d it go? The Humdrum was here wasn’t it? I felt it.”

“It’s gone.”

“What do you _mean_ it’s _gone_?” He exclaims.

“I mean it’s vanished. I went to save a civilian, I came back, and it was gone.”

**SIMON**

I don’t understand how it could have just vanished. It’s never left without a fight. Things are starting to change around here and I’m not sure I like it. It feels like there’s something big coming. 

“I have to go. I used too much magic, gonna transform back soon.” He turns his back to me.

I could argue with him, I know he didn’t use that much magic, he barely used two flame arrows, but I won’t.

“Make sure you check on some of the civilians.” He says before he takes off.

I kick my heel into the ground absently before walking towards the paramedics. I make sure all the injured civilians are okay and answer their questions as well as I can.

_What was that thing?_

_Where did it go?_

_Why was it attacking?_

_Will it come back?_

And really, I don’t have a solid answer for any of those questions.

After making sure all of the injured make it to the paramedics safely, I start to make my way back home.

I wouldn’t even have gotten captured if I hadn’t left. Well, maybe. I know I was supposed to stay home but as soon as Davy left that afternoon, I snuck out after him. I just couldn’t stay cooped up inside all day.

I don’t know what the Humdrum wanted from me or why it would attack me as Simon, but maybe it was just a coincidence. I was the first civilian the Humdrum saw or something. I try not to think too hard about it.

By the time I make it home, Davy is still gone. After my suit and wings vanish, I fall on top of my bed, grabbing my laptop and taking it with me. May as well get some homework done. For the rest of the day I try to distract myself as much as I can to get myself to stop thinking about what happened today. It works, for the most part. At some point in the evening, I start to feel hungry again. I never did eat lunch today. Usually I’ll just eat at school. But the fridge and the cabinets are still empty save for some crackers and the fruit sitting on the counter. I just grab a packet of crackers and head back upstairs. I’m still hungry when the crackers are gone but I decide I’ll just sleep it off instead.

I fall asleep thinking about the way Ember held me as he carried me away from the scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for readingggg~
> 
> I don't know if I'll end up having a regular posting schedule. Right now I'm just posting as I finish them.


	3. We were victims of the night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! I have a longer update for you guys. I started writing last night and couldn't stop, so I accidentally wrote a 4k word chapter and couldn't bring myself to split it up. So enjoy!
> 
> [Chapter title from "Shut Up and Dance" by WALK THE MOON]

**BAZ**

“Baz!”

I hear the click of her heeled boots as she walks up behind me and I feel her hand reaching for my shoulder before I turn towards her, leaving her hand to hover in the air. Agatha Wellbelove. Blonde hair, perfect skin. She’s the epitome of beauty in society’s standards. She’s popular in school too, the kind of popular that makes friends as well as admirers. She’s also Simon’s girlfriend. “Yes, Wellbelove?”

“I just wanted to invite you to my party tomorrow.” She smiles and hands me an enclosed envelope. I take it from her hands gently and inspect it. It’s a creamy white with a red heart sticker on the seal of the envelope. My name is written on the back in perfect cursive lettering. “It’s for my birthday.”

“Actually, I need to catch up on some homework tomorrow night,” I lie. I don’t think I want to go. I bet Simon will be there too and I definitely don’t want to see him and Agatha snogging across the room. It’d probably happen eventually.

“No, you don’t. I know you don’t. Because you’re Basilton Grimm-Pitch, you’re never behind on homework. In fact, I’m willing to bet you’re already working on next week’s homework.” She smirks at me knowingly.

_ Bollocks. _

“Just think about it,” she cuts in before I have a chance to reply. “I’d like it if you were there. Besides, you should get out more. Could be fun. In fact, if you go and don’t have fun, we can say I owe you one.”

She walks away before I can argue any further. I stare down at the envelope in my hand for a solid two minutes before shoving it in my bag as a thing-to-think-about-later.

  
  


**SIMON**

Agatha invited me to her birthday party.

Now I’m standing in front of my closet, trying to figure out what to wear. I must have gone through my entire closet to find something nice to wear. I don’t own party clothes. I don’t do parties. Agatha said it’s casual dress but I know she really means only one step down from suits and gowns. It’s always like that with Agatha. How she put up with me, I have no idea. I wouldn’t know what fashion was if it slapped me in the face.

I finally manage to find some dark jeans and the one button-up I own. Penny bought it for me for the first party she dragged me to. It’s a type of washed-out grey. I don’t really have many nice shoes so I just pull the cleanest pair of converse out of my closet and throw them on. They happen to be in a dark red color. I don’t wear them often enough for how much I like them. I just don’t have enough motivation to put outfits together with them. I usually just throw on my old black converse because they match with pretty much everything.

I back up to look at myself in the mirror. Not too bad. I run my hand through my hair and call it good in that department. I check the time on my phone. Six forty seven. Right on time. Penny should be here any minute to pick me up. I would normally just take the tube to Agatha’s house but she insisted on driving me.

I pocket my phone and head downstairs to wait for her.

“Are you going out?” I hear Davy’s voice from the couch.

“Yeah. Uh– Agatha has her birthday party tonight. She invited me.” I explain.

He looks me over. “Okay. Be back by midnight.”

“Yes, sir.” I’ll take that. I’ll probably be back way before then anyway. I feel my phone buzz in my pocket, signalling that Penny is outside. I duck out quickly, thankful for an excuse to get out of the house.

Penny gives an approving glance to my outfit as I walk up to the car. “It’s nice to see you dressed up like that. You should dress like that more often.” She winks. I guess I did something right  _ for once _ .

The rest of the car ride there is quiet. Not an uncomfortable quiet though. It does start to get a little uncomfortable as we pull up to Agatha’s driveway, but not because of the silence.

There’s a queue of people at her door. Her house is large, compared to mine at least, an obvious indicator of her family’s wealth. She must have invited nearly everyone from our year. I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually had.

“Come on, Si. It’ll be fine. Whatever you’re worried about, stop worrying about it. We’re here to have fun.” She extends her hand out for me as she starts walking towards the entrance. I take it and smile. She’s right. We’re here to have fun. 

**BAZ**

Simon’s here. Of course he is. I knew he would be so I don’t know why I’m so surprised. He’s wearing a dark grey button up and dark wash jeans. Dammit why does he have to be so attractive. Grey is such a good color for him.

I need a drink.

**SIMON**

When I walk in, I notice small groups of people scattered around the living room, the majority of them with a drink in their hands. Most of the people here are eighteen but even if they were underage, no one here seems to care.

Before I have the chance to take anything else in, I’m being dragged away. We end up at the drink table. There’s already a bowl of punch out on the counter, most likely some kind of fruit punch and vodka. I take a plastic cup from the counter and fill it with some of the punch. Penny just takes a sprite from Agatha’s fridge. I gape at her. It’s not like Agatha would mind but she is  _ way _ too comfortable here.

“Oh relax, Si. Agatha doesn’t mind. Plus I’m the designated driver here.”

I roll my eyes and sip from my drink. The bitter taste of vodka hits my tongue and I cringe a little.

“Hey I’m gonna go catch up with some of my friends from PoliSci. Okay?” I nod. “Stay out of trouble.”

And then I’m alone. Great. I’m just about to go find some people to chat with when I turn and run straight into Baz Pitch. “What are you doing here?”

“I was invited by your girlfriend, Simon. Isn’t it obvious?” He takes a sip from his drink, watching me quizzically over the rim of his cup. It irks me.

“She’s uh– she’s not my girlfriend anymore.”

“Sorry?” He pulls his cup away from his lips.

“We– we broke up. A couple months ago actually.” I rub my hand over the back of my neck nervously. I thought everyone knew Agi and I broke up. Apparently not everyone.

“Well, I can see why. I don’t know how she even managed to put up with you as long as she did.”

“Are you ever  _ not _ a fucking git?” I say through clenched teeth.

He shrugs. It’s a little uncharacteristic of him. “Well, now you know. You can go ask her out or whatever. Nothing stopping you anymore.”

He laughs. “Wait, you think I’m interested in Wellbelove?”

“Well, obviously. You’ve been trying to get with her for the past year. Don’t think I don’t see you two.”

He scoffs, looking down at his drink. “Trust me. I’m not interested in Wellbelove.”

“Well she likes you. I know she does.” I argue.

“Yes, I know. But she really shouldn’t. You don’t have to worry about me liking your ex, Salisbury. I won’t ever like her like that. Besides, I definitely would not want your sloppy seconds.”

Something about the way he says it angers me. Agatha and I might not be dating anymore, but we’re still friends and this prick just called her my “sloppy seconds”. “Why do you have to be such a git?”

“I don’t know. Maybe when you find more creative ways to insult me.” He takes another swig of his drink before walking passed me. I walk to the other side of the counter a pull a bar stool out to sit on.

God, he makes my blood boil. I thought things might have changed after he offered to help me study. We actually managed to be civil for one night, besides the occasional insult to my intelligence. He’s so frustrating. I don’t even realize when I finish drinking my drink and start squeezing the plastic of the cup between my fingers.

“Woah, hey, what did that cup ever do to you?” Penny comes up behind me and places her hand on my wrist. I release the cup from my death grip. It barely looks like a functional anymore.

“It’s Baz.”

“Baz made you murder the cup?”

“No. Baz  _ is  _ the cup.” I pick up the crushed cup from the counter and throw it in the garbage bin.

“I kind of don’t even want to ask.” Penny pulls another bar stool from the counter to sit with me.

“He’s just so infuriating.” I growl. I don’t even know why I’m so angry it’s not like this is anything new. That wasn’t even one of our worst conversations. I guess I was just really not in the mood to deal with him tonight.

“Yeah, what’s new?” She shrugs before walking back over to the fridge and stealing another Sprite. I just roll my eyes at her. “Let’s go dance.”

“I don’t think it’s that kind of party, Pen.” For the most part people have just been chatting and drinking casually. The music is at a moderate volume and it’s hardly dance music.

“Pff, rubbish.” She makes her way over to where the speakers are set up. She picks up the mobile connected to the aux which I assume to be Agatha’s and types in a password. My mouth falls open. She just looks up at me and puts her finger over her lips in a shushing motion. She taps around on the phone, giggling to herself. Before anyone else notices her tampering she makes it back to where I’m sitting.

“What did you  _ do _ ?”

“Setting the mood.” Just as the last song dies out, a more familiar song rings across the speakers. I know it as soon as the first notes play.  _ Shut Up and Dance by WALK THE MOON _ . This is my and Penny’s song. She’ll put it on when she wants me to let loose or when we’re studying and need to destress.

“Oh my god, Penny.” I start laughing. She’s absolutely bonkers. Penny takes both of my hands and pulls me into the living room. Thankfully we aren’t the only ones starting to dance to the song. The majority of people in the room start to join in. Agatha looks confused at first but she goes with it and starts dancing with her girlfriends.

**BAZ**

Simon is dancing. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. He’s so uncoordinated but he’s still having fun. I can tell because of the giant smile spread across his face. He looks like the sun. Seeing him like this makes me fall impossibly harder for him. I can’t stop the smile that’s pulling at the corners of my lips.

**SIMON**

By the time the song is over, I’m completely out of breath. Penny drags me back over to our spot at the counter. There are still people dancing to the next few songs. It’s not as hyped as the first song but Penny seems to be proud of her work done.

It’s really hot in here so I let Penny know I’m going out back to get some air.

**BAZ**

“I really can’t escape you, can I?” A familiar voice says.

I don’t respond but he walks up and stands next to me anyway. He turns around and leans back against the railing, a drink in his hand. I can’t get the image of him dancing out of my head. I feel the heat travelling from my neck to my face. I turn my head away so he can’t see.

“Quiet now? Had enough of insulting me?”

“Wasn’t really insulting you, Salisbury. I was only speaking the truth.”

“Pff, yeah. Right.” He scoffs and takes a sip of his drink. I don’t know why he’s still out here. He should’ve gone back inside as soon as he saw me. Who sits out on the back patio having drinks with their arch nemesis?

We stay quiet for a long time. I’m actually enjoying this, it’s peacefully quiet. That is, until I hear a screech echo across the sky. I stand up straighter looking across the sky trying to find the source. I can’t tell what it is. I turn to Simon. He looks nervous. “I uh– I have to go.”

He runs back inside, barely managing to make it through the sliding door without hitting his shoulder against it.  _ Well that was a thing _ .

I should probably go transform now. Snow is probably at the scene by now. I scan the crowds inside the house. None of them seem to have realized that anything is wrong. I sneak out the front door and transform behind one of the cars on the street.

On my way back to Central London I run into Snow. Well I guess he runs into me more like. As I’m running through the streets, Snow lands next to me, red wings spread out behind him. He continues on running next to me. “What do you suppose he sent us this time?”

“Flying monkeys actually.” He must have seen them when he was flying.

“Oh, lovely.”

It doesn’t take us too long to reach the scene but what we see when we reach it makes us stop dead in our tracks. There’s got to be at least twenty of these creatures if not more. They’re flying all over the place. I’m still trying to take the situation in when Snow flies into the air, sword out. He manages to strike one of them but it doesn’t do much. They just keep coming. He seems a little off balance at first but he rights himself in no time.

They’re attacking civilians too. Swooping down, picking them up and dropping them, people are running down the street. There are bodies littering the street, likely dead or severely injured. I try not to think about them right now for fear I might be sick.

I look around trying to find some kind of pattern, to form some kind of plan.

One of the creatures starts flying toward me and I instinctively throw up a ball of flames. It hits the creature’s wing and it falls. The monkey is still alive but it doesn’t seem to be able to fly anymore. I’ve got it. I can’t do this here though.

“Snow!” I yell.

“Yeah?” He yells back, fending off one of the creatures.

“We need to lead them to St James Park. We need everyone to start running in that direction.” I explain.

He doesn’t ask why. We’ve learned that when one of us has a plan, we don’t ask questions. He nods and starts yelling out to the people in the street the run towards St James Park. Everyone seems to listen. There are crowds of people now running towards the park. Every single one of the creatures is following us. Perfect.

When the crowd of civilians reaches the park, I start pushing them towards the cover of the trees. Snow is still in the air, leading the pack of angry flying monkeys.

“Snow!” I yell. “I need you to start striking their wings! Make sure they can’t fly!”

He does just that. I help too. I throw small balls of fire towards them aiming for the wings. Every one that drops is just another one following behind me. I have to run circles to keep away from them. I notice a couple start to stray towards the crowds hidden under the trees. I throw up a wall of fire between the civilians and the monkeys and keep running, throwing more fireballs into the sky.

Eventually we get all of them to the ground and Snow drops down to join me, sword at the ready.

“Okay. Snow, I need you to go off.”

“What do you mean? I can’t  _ control _ that!” He sounds panicked.

“Why the hell not?”

“That’s not how it works!  _ This _ was your big plan?” The creatures have started to circle us backing us into each other. I know he can’t go off unless he’s upset. I know that. But I thought maybe– I don’t know what I thought. But I guess if he can’t go off without being upset, I’ll just have to get him angry.

“You’re so useless. You have all this power and it’s such a  _ waste _ . You can’t even control it!” He looks at me with his jaw hanging open, but there’s fire burning in his eyes. Good. “You’re a terrible hero. You’re gonna let all these people die? Just like the first time? People only like you because you’re flashy. You have no real talent.”

“That’s– that’s not true.” There are angry tears forming in his eyes and he’s starting to breath heavier. “Why are you saying this, Ember?”

_ Because I have to make you go off, you idiot _ . “It’s just the truth. I’ve been holding back telling you because it would have ruined our team but it’s clear now that we shouldn’t even  _ be _ a team anymore. You’re useless, an inconvenience. You’re  _ always _ in my way. I should just fight on my own. Anything’s better than fighting with you.”

He’s really angry now. I can feel the magic pouring off of him in waves. This is good. I hate that I have to hurt him like this but it’s the only way we’re going to be able to knock out twenty of these things.

**SIMON**

I feel the heat building in my chest. I can’t control it anymore. It’s building up more and more. Every word Ember yells at me is just another flame to the fire. I can’t take it anymore. I can’t breath. There are hot tears streaming down my face. When it happens, it’s like an explosion in my chest. A supernova. It burns. There’s magic coming out from every pore in my body. It only lasts two seconds in reality but it seems like so much longer. When it’s over, my chest is still heaving and my body feels heavy.

I look up a notice that all of the monkeys are knocked out. I did it. I laugh a little despite myself. “Ember, I did it!” I look back around to where he was standing just a moment ago and my heart drops to my stomach. “No.”

Ember’s body is lying on the ground. Did I kill him? Oh god please don’t tell me I killed him. I don’t know what’d I’d do without him.

I drop down to him. I look at his chest. It’s moving. He’s still breathing. I release the breath I’d been holding, tears of relief springing from my eyes. It’s then I realize the flames Ember had put up have gone out and we have an audience. I turn towards the crowd, letting them know that everything will be okay. I can hear the emergency vehicles already making their way down the street so I reassure them help is on the way.

I turn back to Ember. He’s going to transform back soon and so am I. I have to get him out of here. I bend down and take him into my arms. I remember the way he held me in his arms when I was Simon. He was so gentle. I smile down at him and take off flying towards the rooftops. I pick one that’s flat and secluded. I lay him down against one side of a brick chimney-looking thing. I need to get food so I can recharge my ring. I know Ember will probably need fire to recharge his. He told me that’s how he recharges it. I remember back when I was new at this. Ember seemed to know more than me, at least more about his own pendant. He had no clue what to do with mine. But I figured it out eventually. Apparently eating something does the job just fine.

It might be hard to find any restaurants open so late. It’s almost eleven by now. There is a 24-hour Tesco Express open nearby though so I jump down from the roof and transform back. My food options are pretty limited here. I just end up picking up some salt and vinegar crisps (they’re Ember’s favorite), and a jar of peanut butter, as well as a lighter and a bottle of water for Ember in case he wants them. I eat the peanut butter plain out of the jar. It has a lot of calories, so does the trick. I have just enough to transform back. Once I do, I fly up on the roof to the other side of the brick chimney I set him against so I can’t see him if he transforms back.

**BAZ**

When I come to, I’m lying against something hard. I hear something faint and it takes me a moment to realize that it’s crying. I look down at myself. I’m in my normal clothes. My head is throbbing.

“Snow?” I call out hesitantly.

“Ember,” his crying turns into a mix of laughing and crying. “You’re awake.”

“Uh– y-yeah.” I’m at a loss for words. “Did you see me?”

“No, I–” he stops to calm himself down. “I brought you here but I know you don’t want me to know so I stayed over here.”

The events of earlier tonight are coming back to me. The creatures, the yelling, when Snow went off. I frown. “Why are you even still here?”

“I couldn’t leave you.” It’s muffled, but I hear him.

I scoff. “Why not? I said all those horrible things to you.”

“Did you mean them?” He asks, his voice small.

“What?”

“Did you  _ mean _ them? Did you mean what you said?” He asks, stronger this time.

I don’t respond for a while. “No.”

“Then why?” He sniffs. It sounds like he’s been crying for a long time. I wonder how long he’s been out here.

“Because I had to get you upset to make you go off,  _ idiot _ . Why else?” I roll my eyes even though I know he can’t see it. I know I was harsh with the things I said, but I really didn’t mean them. Any of them. He may be a dumbass but I honestly don’t think I ever want us to stop being a team, even when all this is over.

He doesn’t respond. We sit in a silence broken only by Snow’s soft sniffles on the other side of the wall. “Are you transformed right now?”

“Yes.” He responds. “I– uh–” he starts. There’s a crinkling of plastic and then theres a Tesco bag sliding over to my side. I take it. Inside I find half a bag of salt and vinegar crisps, a water bottle, and a lighter. It makes me smile. It’s nice to know he pays attention.

“Thank you.” I take out the lighter and hold the pendant from my necklace over the flame. Once I’ve given the pendant enough power for the night, I transform and stand up to go sit next to Snow. His knees are pulled up to his chest. He’s looking out over London with a blank expression on his face. I can tell he’s tired. His eyes are drooping. “Why don’t you go home?”

He just shakes his head, letting his legs fall back to their straight-out position.

“Okay.” I don’t really have anywhere else to be so I stay. Snow is a mess right now. I’d be a bad partner if I didn’t make sure he was alright. We sit in a comfortable silence.

After awhile I feel a weight lean against my shoulder. I tense. Snow’s fallen asleep on me. I let him. It feels nice. I’m almost falling asleep myself until I’m jolted awake as Snow’s weight leaves my side and I’m left to catch myself on the concrete. He’s scrambled away from me, his eyes blown wide. “I– I’m sorry. I have to go.”

And then he’s flying away. I can’t help the disappointment that burns in my chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, I can't write action scenes to save my life but honestly this fic is mostly just self-indulgent so eh, whatever.


	4. Pour me a heavy dose of the atmosphere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Late Christmas?? I wanted to post a chapter on Christmas as a christmas present for you all but I couldn't finish it in time :((  
> This ones a little dialogue heavy and kinda short, so I apologize in advance.
> 
> [Chapter title: "Vanilla Twilight" - Owl City]

**SIMON**

The stars are pretty tonight. Usually they’re not very visible but it’s almost 3am and half the city’s asleep so the light pollution isn’t so bad. Though, nothing compares to seeing them from the countryside. I didn’t always live in London. Most of the homes I grew up in were far from the city. Sometimes I would sneak out at night, lay down in the field and watch the stars. With all of the moving from home to home, the stars were the only things that stayed in place. I would track how they moved throughout the seasons and then every year they would come back. I’m no astronomy expert, I don’t know the names of all the stars or all the constellations, but I know they’re there and that’s enough.

There’s a light thump on the roof above me. I don’t flinch, I know it can only be one person. He steps cautiously towards me and sits down next to me on the roof’s ledge. “What are you doing out here so late, Snow?”

I shrug. “Couldn’t sleep.” I’m not surprised he found me here. This is kind of like our place. One night after a particularly difficult fight, we ended up meeting here. It was probably a mere coincidence, but I think it could’ve been the stones pulling us closer together. They always tend to do that whenever we need it most. Ember and I, we’re not friends. I don’t know if I’d call us that. But we’re partners. “Not after tonight.”

He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to. He just leans back on his arms and looks out across the city. I think we both picked this place because of the view. You can see almost the entirety of London from up here. It’s nice.

He looks gorgeous like this, with the city lights illuminating his face and the moon shining down on his hair. I have to force my eyes away so I'm not caught staring. I'm happy he's alive, after earlier tonight. He could have died. I could have killed him.

“I wish it would all just stop.” I bring my knees to my chest. “Sometimes I just don’t want to fight anymore.”

“Me too, Snow. Me too.”

I look down at my ring. The small stone embedded in the worn silver glows. I guess you could call it iridescent. It’s flowing with energy in blue and magenta waves. It looks a lot different before I’ve transformed. It’s just a clear stone, nothing special-looking.

A strange feeling washes over me as I’m looking at my ring. I look up and suddenly I’m not on the roof anymore.

There’s green everywhere. Trees. I’m in a forest.

I’m not alone. I turn around and see myself. A hooded, younger, version of myself. The Humdrum?

“Hello, Simon.”

“How you do- how do you know my name?” That was probably not the right thing to say. I basically just confirmed my identity. _Stupid. Stupid._

“Because I am you. We are one.”

I frown. “No- no we’re not. I would never do what you do. I would never _hurt_ people.”

“You’ve hurt plenty of people, Simon. But you don’t have to worry about that anymore. I have a proposal for you. If you take it, no citizens will get hurt anymore. No more monsters. No more fighting."

I raise my eyebrow. I’m not sure I trust what the Humdrum is saying. No more fighting? “I’m listening.”

“Good.” The Humdrum smiles. “The Mage has made a promise to not send any more monsters and no innocents will be harmed ever again,” he pauses, making direct eye contact with me. “As long as you hand your ring over to me.”

No. “I-I can’t.”

“Why not? If there’s no more monsters to fight, why would you need it?” He reasons. “This is a peace treaty, Simon. You put down your weapon, we put down ours.”

“How can I trust that you’ll keep your word?” I sneer.

“Because I am you, Simon. Do you not trust your own mind?” He smirks at me. “If you don’t accept my proposal, it will only get worse. The Mage won’t stop until he’s reached his goal. More innocent people will die. You don’t want to see your friends die? Do you?”

My hand drops to my ring. I don’t know what I’m doing.

_Wake up._

My hand hovers over my ring.

 _Snow, wake up_.

I can’t. I can’t let more people get hurt. I can’t let all these people die.

**_Please Snow, wake up!_ **

If I don’t do this, those people’s blood will be on my hands.

**_WAKE. UP._ **

**BAZ**

Snow jolts awake. His eyes are wide, confused. They scan across my face.

I release a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. He had almost just taken his ring off.

My hands are still on his shoulders as they start to shake. Each movement of his shoulders is accompanied by a sob. He throws himself at me, nearly tipping me over the edge. I tense, not knowing what to do. My hands come up behind him, settling between his wings. This is the second time Snow has broken down in front of me. Both in one night too. He’s usually so strong. Seemingly unbreakable.

“I’m- I’m sorry.” He sniffs, pulling himself away from me.

I let him calm down before speaking again. “What was that?"

“The Humdrum. He took me somewhere. A forest. I don’t know.” Snow shakes his head. “He wanted to make a deal with me.”

He? We never bothered assigning a gender to the Humdrum before. “A deal?”

“If I gave him my ring, he would make sure the Mage never harmed anyone again.”

“You can’t possibly _trust_ the Humdrum.”

“I don’t know. I really don’t know, Ember. All I know is that I want all of this to stop. I’m sick of it!” He growls. “I’m sick of fighting! I’m sick of watching innocent people die!”

He looks on the verge of tears again but he just blinks, holding them back. “So we should make a plan. To end this for good.”

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing? You think we’re just fighting these things for _fun_?” 

“No, Snow. Of course not. But before, we didn’t have any clue what the Mage’s motive was.” I explain.

“And now we do?” He scoffs.

“Well, you said the Humdrum wanted your ring. He offered something that you wanted so that he could get something that he wanted.” It’s not much of a lead but it’s a start.

“Why would the Mage want my ring? What could he use it for?” Snow looks down at his ring. I really don’t know. Neither of us ever figured out exactly what his ring’s power is. Mine is fire. But his just doesn’t fit under any elemental category. Maybe the previous owner of Snow’s ring would know what power it holds. If we knew what the Mage wanted with Snow’s ring, we could probably stop him easier–– interrupt his plan and all that. 

“Who gave you your ring?"

“I-” he starts. He frowns and then a second later, his eyes light up. “Ember! You’re a genius! I know where we can go.” He stands up and starts off across the rooftops.

I struggle a bit to keep up with him. His wings allow him to move faster than me.

When we stop, we’re outside a small house on the outskirts of London. It looks old but well taken care of. The windowsills hold various potted flowers and the walls are painted white brick. Each window has four wonderfully clean panes that open outwards. They look a little out of place with the style of the rest of the house.

Snow brings his hand up and knocks on the door. A few moments later the door opens to reveal a short lady with a dirty blonde bob cut and tired eyes. She looks over Snow, then me, then back to Snow. “Snow, you know I always love seeing you but you do realize it’s almost 4am right?”

I look at Snow and the color drains from his face. “Oh my god, Ebb, I’m so sorry. I just had this idea and I got excited. I completely forgot to think about the time.”

“Do you ever think about anything Snow?” I smirk at him. He just huffs and crosses his arms.

“Don’t worry, love, I was only teasing. I wasn’t going to end up sleeping tonight anyway.” Ebb smiles and puts her hand on Snow’s shoulder. “Come on in, dears.”

Her house has a warm feeling on the inside, though it might just be the fireplace going. Its mantel is covered in knicknacks, mostly animal figurines carved of wood, many of which are goats, and the coach across from it is a worn red leather with two plaid blankets thrown across the back.

“So you’re Ember I presume?” She turns to me, holding out her hand. I take it.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Oh enough with the pleasantries, just call me Ebb, dear.” She lets go of my hand and makes her way to the kitchen.

“Either of you boys fancy a cuppa?” She asks as she rummages through her cabinets.

“I’ll take one Ebb, thank you.” Snow says beside me.

“How about you, dear?” She turns to me.

“I’m okay, thank you.”

She doesn’t ask Snow how he prefers his tea so I guess he comes here a lot then. Snow drinking tea while still in his hero suit is weird. It’s so domestic and unfitting for him.

“So what brings you two here?” She asks over her own cup of tea.

We start telling her about everything that’s been happening recently. From the more frequent attacks, and the scale of those attacks, up to the incident witht he Humdrum earlier tonight. Snow does most of the talking and I only add in where needed.

“I was afraid he would try to make a deal with you.”

“Wait,” Snow starts, confusion creasing his brow. “Are you saying you knew he wanted to take my ring?”

She nods.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He looks betrayed but mostly just sad.

“I didn’t think he would get this far. I thought with you and Ember in the field, there was a chance he could be beaten.”

“Why does he want Snow’s ring? Why is it so special?”

“I’m not sure.” She looks deep in thought.

“Weren’t you the previous holder though?” I ask, confused.

“No, I’m afraid not. I was only the keeper. I never wore it. I’ve never known the power it holds.”

“Is there someone who does?”

“Not anymore. My brother, Nicky, he was the last holder of that ring. The Mage killed him to try to get the ring but he gave it to me to keep safe before he died. He never told me anything about it.”

Snow sighs and rubs both hands down his face. “So this is a dead end then.”

Ebb looks conflicted. Her brow furrowed and her eyes sad as she sets her tea down on the counter. “There is one place.”

Snow perks up, hope in his eyes again. How he can switch moods so fast, I have no idea.

She leads us out of the kitchen and down a staircase leading out from the hallway. At the bottom of the stairs is a door. “Nicky’s study.” She pulls a key from around her neck and slots it into the door knob. “I promised myself I wouldn’t come down here–– after his death.”

She opens the door. The room is dark save for the light filtering in from the hallway. Ebb steps into the space cautiously and flips a switch. The lights are warm and dim and don’t quite illuminate the room well but at least we can see around. There’s a desk in the middle with files spread across it. Every wall down here is less a wall and more a bookshelf, filled with probably thousands of books.

“I’m not sure what we can find down here, but I’m sure there must be something to help you both find your answers.”

Snow and I both hesitate. It feels weird to snoop around a dead man’s study.

“It’s okay, dears. He wouldn’t have minded.” She sniffles and when I look back at her there are tears rolling down her cheeks. “Sorry. I-I’m sorry. It’s fine. I just haven’t thought about Nicky in a while. Try not to and all that. I’ll be okay loves.” She wipes her hand across her face and walks further into the room towards the back wall. She pulls a book from the shelf and frowns at it. 

I walk up behind her and try to read the title but I can’t. It’s in some other language. Definitely not English and definitely not any other language I’ve seen. “What language _is_ this?”

“Uh… It’s English?” Snow walks up on the other side of Ebb.

“No it’s not you imbecile. This is clearly not English.” I argue.

“This clearly is English. Look, it says Drabbles and Dangers of Spellcasting.” He uses his pointer finger to follow the words across the page as he says them.

“You can read that, love?” Ebb looks at him curiously.

“Bloody Hell. I think it’s in some coded language only the ‘Chosen One’ can read.” Snow frowns at the name. I started calling him the Chosen One back when we first met and he’s hated the nickname since. “Are all of them like that?”

Ebb starts pulling more books off the shelf. “I’m afraid so.”

 _Fantastic_.

“How are we going to get through _all_ of these? This could take months!” Snow wines.

“Only if you don’t know how to prioritize.” I shoot back. “We’ll only look through the books that have something to do with the gemstones.”

“How are we going to sort them though? I’m the only one of us that can read them.”

He does make a valid point. This might take just a little longer than I thought. “Well from what I’ve seen, most of these books have pictures and diagrams. So I can look through to find anything that looks like it could be about our gemstones and you can read it.”

“I can also help.” Ebb cuts in.

Snow looks between both of us and seems to make a decision. “Alright. Let’s do it.” He grabs at a book on the shelf and before he can even open it he's yawning.

"Maybe you both should go home and try to get some sleep. Come back tomorrow night. I know it's been a long day for both of you." Ebb takes the book from Snow's hand and puts it back on the shelf.

It doesn't take much convincing. "Alright," he says. "Come on, Ember."

He holds out his hand for me to take. I walk past him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These idiots are gonna take some time......


End file.
